'USS Braine,' Boston Navy Yard, 1945

Description

W.W. Fitts, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Braine., is at right, on the dock next to the ship at the Boston Navy Yard in 1945.

The Braine, DD-630, was built at Bath Iron Works, launched Mar 7, 1943, and passed through Casco Bay before and after a shakedown in Bermuda.

She then deployed to the Pacific where, on May 27, 1945, while on radar picket duty off Okinawa, she was hit by two kamikaze planes in quick succession. She lost 67 men killed and 102 wounded out of a crew of about 325. After temporary repairs at a tender in Okinawa, she sailed to Boston for permanent repairs, arriving Aug. 6, 1945.

She served in the Navy until 1971 when she was decommissioned and sold to Argentina.